Template:Short description Template:Infobox climber Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport.<ref name=CL10/> He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of Realization/Biographie, the world's first-ever redpoint of a consensus Template:Climbing grade graded route,Template:Efn and ushered in what was called a "technical evolution" in the sport.<ref name=CL5/> Sharma carried the mantle of "world's strongest sport climber" from Wolfgang Güllich (who held it for almost a decade from the early 1980s), and passed it to Adam Ondra (who held it from 2012).<ref name=NG/>
In 2008, Sharma redpointed the world's first-ever consensus Template:Climbing grade route with Jumbo Love, and in 2013, became only the second-ever person to climb a Template:Climbing grade route with La Dura Dura. Sharma is also known for free soloing the world's first-ever Template:Climbing grade deep-water solo route, Es Pontàs in 2006.<ref name=CL20/> Sharma became one of the most commercially successful climbers in his sport, and was noted for his "King Lines" – iconic routes that inspired him to spend the months and even years needed to climb them – some of which feature in the award-winning 2007 climbing film, King Lines.<ref name=CL20/><ref name=OUT1/>
Early lifeEdit
Chris Omprakash Sharma was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, the only child of Gita Jahn and Bob Sharma.<ref name=CL10/><ref name ="metroactive"/><ref name=CL30/> His parents were devotees of the yogi Baba Hari Dass, and adopted the surname Sharma when they got married.<ref name=CL10/><ref name ="metroactive"/> He went to Mount Madonna, and attended Soquel High School for a year.<ref name ="metroactive">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=CL30/> Sharma started rock climbing when he was 12 at the Pacific Edge Climbing Gym,<ref name=CL10/> and he described himself as "one of the first climbing-gym-generation kids".<ref name=CL15>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Climbing careerEdit
1996–2002 (to Realization)Edit
From the outset, Sharma was considered a prodigy in the climbing world.<ref name=LAT/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="interview2013"/> At age 14, he won the adult 1996 US Open Bouldering Nationals,<ref name=CL10/> and a year later aged 15, he freed Boone Speed's project Necessary Evil Template:Climbing grade in the Virgin River Gorge,<ref name="interview2013"/> the hardest sport climb in North America at the time.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=UKC1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The following year, Sharma won silver at the biennial UIAA World Championships at Paris,<ref name=PM7/> and gold at the Kranj leg of the UIAA World Cup, both for lead climbing.<ref name=KJ/> Still 16, he suffered a serious knee injury that sidelined him for over a year.Template:Efn<ref name=CL5/> Aged 18, Sharma moved to Bishop, California, and began a US bouldering revolution with his 1999 film Rampage,<ref name=OUT5>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in February 2000, completed the first ascent of The Mandala, a world-famous boulder problem.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CH/>
On 18 July 2001, aged 20, Sharma completed the extension of the Template:Climbing grade route Biographie in Ceüse in France, and named it Realization; the route was the first consensus Template:Climbing grade in the world,Template:Efn and has since become an important route in the history of sport climbing, with Climbing magazine noting that "technical rock climbing jumped in its evolution".<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL5/> It was the first confirmed increase in grades since Wolfgang Gullich's ascent of Action Directe Template:Climbing grade, a decade earlier.<ref name=NG/><ref name=GJK>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sharma's ascent of the route was captured in Josh Lowell's 2002 film, Dosage Volume 1.<ref name=OUT4>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Days later, Sharma won the Munich leg of the IFSC World Cup in bouldering, only to be disqualified on testing positive for marijuana.<ref name=LAT/><ref name=PM11>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2002–2008 (to Jumbo Love)Edit
After Realization, Sharma considered quitting climbing and went on Buddhist pilgrimages. A 2003 trip to Mallorca, Spain to meet Miquel Riera, a pioneer of deep-water soloing, led him to "fall in love with climbing all over again".<ref name=CL5/><ref name=RI5/> Sharma largely abandoned competitions,Template:Efn to focus on "King Lines", a term he adopted for iconic routes that motivated him.Template:Efn<ref name=CL30/> In 2004, Sharma solved the boulder problem Practice of the Wild Template:Boulder grade, and in 2005 solved the dramatic roof of Witness the Fitness Template:Boulder grade, followed by redpointing Dreamcatcher Template:Climbing grade, regarded as one of North America's most iconic sport climbs.<ref name=CL10/> In 2006, he made an early repeat of La Rambla Template:Climbing grade, and in 2006, after 50 attempts,<ref name=CH/> stuck the crux dyno of Es Pontàs in Mallorca, the world's first-ever Template:Climbing grade DWS route.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL20/> Some of Sharma's climbs from this era are in the iconic and award-winning 2007 climbing film, King Lines.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL20/><ref name=OUT1>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=GR4>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2007, Sharma moved to Lleida, a town near the Spanish Pyrenees, in Catalonia, Spain,<ref name=CL5/> and over the next five years, created an unprecedented series of new Template:Climbing grade to Template:Climbing grade sport climbs,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> predominantly in Catalonian limestone crags (namely Oliana, Siurana, Santa Linya and Margalef), starting with the Template:Climbing grade classic of Papichulo in May 2008.Template:Efn<ref name=CL5/> In September 2008, Sharma made a trip back to the United States and climbed the world's first-ever consensus Template:Climbing grade route when he freed Randy Leavitt's Template:Convert bolted route,<ref name=Jumbo/> Jumbo Love in Clark Mountain in California.<ref name=CL10/>
2008–2013 (to La Dura Dura)Edit
Sharma said that after climbing Jumbo Love, he needed to change his approach.<ref name="interview2013"/> His previous breakthroughs had been on routes established and bolted by other climbers who had given up on them,Template:Efn and now he needed to find his own limit saying: "I wanted to push myself to the next level. Where is that? I had to discover it. That was a big process in itself. So I bolted all these routes [in Spain]. And a lot of them ended up being that next level".<ref name="interview2013"/> The period saw Sharma bolt and free numerous new extreme Template:Climbing grade-graded "King Lines", including Template:Ill (2008), Neanderthal (2009), and First Round First Minute (2011), each a major project in itself and since regarded as important classics, with Sharma saying "That's the thing about being on the cutting edge. You have to invent it".<ref name="interview2013"/>
In 2011, Sharma invited the then 19-year-old climbing prodigy Adam Ondra, to try an Oliana route he had bolted in 2009 called La Dura Dura, which Sharma himself had given up on saying "I never saw myself being able to climb it.", and "I figured it would be for the next generation".<ref name="interview2013"/> For the next year, the two climbers worked the route in a collaborative process that saw Ondra make the first ascent in February 2013, and Sharma make the first repeat in March 2013.<ref name="interview2013"/> National Geographic called their collaboration a defining moment in the sport of rock climbing, when the title of "world's best climber" had begun to pass from one generation to the next.<ref name=NG>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Both Ondra and Sharma declared the collaboration to be a very positive experience with Sharma saying post his March ascent: "It was a healthy process for both of us, we fed off each other's motivation and through him, I think I became a better climber myself".<ref name="interview2013"/><ref name=PM>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Their collaboration was documented in Reel Rock 7 (2012), and La Dura Complete (2013).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=OUT8>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Post 2013Edit
At Template:Climbing grade, La Dura Dura would hold the rank of "world's hardest climb"Template:Efn until Ondra climbed Silence at Template:Climbing grade in 2017, and while Sharma would put up several more "King Lines" over the next 5 years, it marked the high-point in terms of his hardest route.<ref name=CL10/> In 2015, he freed El Bon Combat, considered at the time to be close to Template:Climbing grade, and in 2016 he soloed Alesha, the world's first Template:Climbing grade DWS route.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL5/> One of Sharma's unfinished projects was a potential Template:Climbing grade route in Oliana beside La Dura Dura called Le Blond, named in memory of Patrick Edlinger; it remains unfinished.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In March 2023, aged 41, Sharma made the first redpoint of Sleeping Lion, a Template:Climbing grade route beside La Rambla in Spain, which he described as the hardest thing he had done in over eight years.<ref name=CL100/> After completing the second ascent of the route in January 2024, Alexander Megos proposed that Sleeping Lion be downgraded to Template:Climbing grade.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the same time in 2023, noting that neighboring Golpe de Estado has never had a third ascent, Sharma wondered if it was a really Template:Climbing grade graded route, which would have made it the world's first-ever at that grade.<ref name=UKC45/>
LegacyEdit
Sharma is widely considered one of the greatest and most important rock climbers in the history of the sport.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL5/><ref name=CL20/><ref name=RI5/><ref name=UKC1/> Sharma took on the title of "world's strongest sport climber" in 2001 from Wolfgang Gullich (who dominated in the decade from the early 1980s to the early 1990s), and passed it on to Adam Ondra (who dominated after 2012).<ref name=NG/> In 2003, the LA Times called him the "greatest natural rock climber in the world".<ref name=LAT/> In 2007, Melissa Block on NPR's All Things Considered, introduced him saying "Chris Sharma is hailed as the world's best rock climber, a pioneer who has mastered some of the most spectacular and difficult routes in the history of the sport".<ref name=NPR>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, Outside said "Sharma shaped modern rock climbing. Whatever he thought was cool, we followed. Bouldering. Projecting hard sport routes. Deep water soloing.<ref name=CL5/> In 2022, Climbing said: "The pioneering American sport climber is among the best to ever tie in, and was arguably the world's strongest rock climber for almost 20 years".<ref name=CL10/>
Sharma is noted for a "humble softly-spoken meditative disposition" (who often leaves it to others to grade his routes)<ref name=GJK/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=ESPN/> coupled with a "highly aggressive and dynamic" climbing style.<ref name=CL30>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=CH/><ref name=CL20>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2016, Climbing said: "Over the past three decades, Sharma has cultivated a mellow Southern California persona, but in reality, he's one of the most competitive, focused, and driven athletes out there".<ref name=CL5/> His demeanor has been ascribed to his Buddhist raising;<ref name=ESPN/> the LA Times called him "the Karma Climber".<ref name=LAT/> He has credited Zen meditation techniques with helping him on routes,<ref name=CH/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or when seeking direction and motivation.<ref name=CL5/><ref name=CL50>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sharma was also known for eschewing any gym-based training (including fingerboards or cross-training) or dieting,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> preferring to climb as his sole method of training.<ref name=CH/><ref name=CL5/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sharma is credited with developing the commercial potential of extreme sport climbing, with Climbing saying "Not only did Sharma have the guns to become the first human to climb 5.15, he had the genius to see the potential, coupled with the commitment to spend months and years of his life proving it",<ref name=CL5/> and calling Sharma "arguably the highest-paid pro climber in the world".<ref name=CL5/> Outside added, "Before Sharma figured out how to balance elite performance with making a living, "professional climber" was an oxymoron.<ref name=OUT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sharma's commercial appeal, and becoming one of the most filmed climbers,<ref name=CL20/> was attributed to his focus on "King Lines",Template:Efn which Sharma described as: "It's not enough to do something hard; it needs to be in an amazing position, a route that asks you to pour your heart and soul into climbing it".<ref name=CL5/><ref name=CL20/>
Personal lifeEdit
Sharma is the founder of the rock climbing gym Sender One, headquartered in Santa Ana, California, which he opened in 2013 as a business partnership with Walltopia, who was a sponsor of Sharma.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=NPR/><ref name=OUT/> In 2015, he opened a second gym, Sharma Climbing BCN, in Barcelona in Spain, and in 2021 he opened a third gym, Sharma Climbing Gava, on the outskirts of Barcelona.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CH/>
Sharma was in a long-term public relationship with the Spanish professional climber Template:Ill, and they lived together in Oliana.<ref name=CL30/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In August 2015, he married Venezuelan model and television personality Jimena Alarcón, and the couple moved from Oliana to Barcelona.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CL5/> Their first child, a daughter named Alana, was born in June 2016,<ref name=CL5>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and their second child, a son, in 2019.<ref name=RI5>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ZenEdit
Sharma's parents were practising Zen Buddhists (although they did not live in at the Mount Madonna ashram)<ref name=CL30/> and for long periods Sharma has followed Zen routines (including daily 5.45am temple meditation).<ref name=LAT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=CH/><ref name=ESPN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sharma has been on various Asian pilgrimages lasting several months, including the Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan that he undertook after climbing Realization in 2001.<ref name=CH/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The 2010 book Climbing: Because It's There (Philosophy for Everyone) discussed the impact of Zen Buddhism on Sharma saying: "Sharma's affinity for Buddhism, and Zen in particular, is well documented in film and print. He exemplifies the spirit of Zen, being humble (but potent), ordinary (but extraordinary), self-aware, and most of all, authentic".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Sharma has however rejected the label of "spiritual climber", saying in 2011: "To be stereotyped like that definitely detracts from me personally. Like I said, I'm totally happy talking about this stuff. I just don’t want to make some image for myself like I’m some sort of saint or something. I get frustrated, and I get bummed out".<ref name=CL30/> Sharma is no longer a practicing Zen Buddhist, and said in 2022: "Climbing is fully engaging… it’s an easy way to access that [meditative] state of mind… easier than sitting down and meditating".<ref name=CH>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Notable ascentsEdit
Redpointed routesEdit
- La Dura Dura – Oliana (ESP) – 23 March 2013. Sharma developed and bolted the route, and made the first repeat after Adam Ondra's February 2013 first ascent.<ref name=CL10>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="interview2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2024, Alexander Megos proposed that it be downgraded to Template:Climbing grade.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
Template:Climbing grade (5.15b/c):
- El Bon Combat – Cova de l'Ocell (ESP) – 7 March 2015. First ascent; described by Sharma as a "King Line",<ref name=CL10/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> now considered closer to 5.15b, but a classic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Jumbo Love – Clark Mountain (USA) – 11 September 2008. First ascent, and world's first-ever Template:Climbing grade route. Repeated by Ethan Pringle (2015), and Jonathan Siegrist (2018).<ref name=CL10/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Template:Ill – Siurana (ESP) – 17 December 2008. First ascent, and the first-ever Template:Climbing grade to be repeated when Adam Ondra climbed it in March 2010 (it was Ondra's first-ever 9b).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, noting that it has never had a 3rd ascent, Sharma wondered if it was a Template:Climbing grade.<ref name=UKC45>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Neanderthal – Santa Linya (ESP) – 18 December 2009. First ascent. Second ascent by Jakob Schubert (2018), and third, after almost a decade of attempts, by Adam Ondra (2019).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- First Round First Minute – Margalef (ESP) – 19 April 2011. First ascent. First repeat by Adam Ondra (2014), second by Alex Megos (2016), and third by Stefano Ghisolfi (2017).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Fight or Flight – Oliana (ESP) – 5 May 2011. First ascent. First repeat by Adam Ondra (2013); the "first 9b" for many others (Jakob Schubert (2015), Sachi Amma (2015), Matty Hong (2018)).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Stoking the Fire – Santa Linya (ESP) – 6 February 2013. First ascent. First repeat by Adam Ondra (2016), and like Fight or Flight, a popular 9b route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Realization – Céüse (FRA) – 18 July 2001. First ascent and the world's first-ever consensus Template:Climbing grade route;Template:Efn features in Dosage Volume 1.<ref name=CL10/><ref name=CH/><ref name=CL5/>
- Papichulo – Oliana (ESP) – 31 May 2008. First ascent. First repeat by Adam Ondra (2009), and has since become one of the most repeated and popular 9a+ routes.Template:Efn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Demencia Senil – Margalef (ESP) – 20 February 2009. First ascent. First repeated by Iker Pou (2010), and second repeat by Ramón Julián Puigblanqué (2010).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Pachamama – Oliana (ESP) – 29 May 2009. First ascent. First repeated by Sachi Amma (2011), and then by Ramón Julián Puigblanqué (2015), and Adam Ondra (2017).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Power Inverter – Oliana (ESP) – December, 2010. First Ascent. First repeated by Ramón Julián Puigblanqué (2014), and then by Sachi Amma (2015).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Catxasa – Santa Linya (ESP) – 14 January 2011. First Ascent. First repeated by Ramón Julián Puigblanqué (2012); numerous repeats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- La Rambla – Siurana (ESP) – 1 December 2006. Third ascent (just a day after the second ascent), and made Sharma the first climber to have climbed multiple confirmed Template:Climbing grade routes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Dreamcatcher – Squamish, British Columbia (CDN) – September, 2005. First ascent. Bolted with Sonnie Trotter, since considered one of the most iconic climbs in North America.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Three Degrees of Separation – Céüse (FRA) – July, 2007. First ascent. Right of Realization and uses 3 large dynos;<ref name=CL20/> the first repeat was by Adam Ondra (2015), who felt it was a 9a+.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the grade is now considered 8c+/9a.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Samfaina – Margalef (ESP) – June, 2010. First ascent. Sharma felt it was 9a, but Jorge Diaz-Rullo and Alex Megos suggest 9a+.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Necessary Evil – Virgin River Gorge (USA) – 1997. First ascent. Sharma, aged 15, freed Boone Speed's project to create North America's hardest route at the time.<ref name=CL10/>
Onsighted routesEdit
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=DES/>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Divine Fury – Maple Canyon (USA) – September, 2008.<ref name=CL25>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=DES/>
- T-Rex – Maple Canyon (USA) – September, 2008.<ref name=CL25/><ref name=DES/>
- Snuff Movies – Sant Llorenç del Munt (ESP) – May, 2015.<ref name=DES>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=GR5>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Deep-water solo routesEdit
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> World's first-ever DWS at 9a+, and considered one of the most spectacular in the sport.<ref name=GR4/><ref name=ES>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> First repeat by Jernej Kruder (2016), then Jan Hojer (2018) and Jakob Schubert (2021).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> First repeat by Jakob Schubert in 2021 who felt it was a 9a DWS route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Boulder problemsEdit
- Practice of the Wild – Magic Wood, (CHE) – August, 2004. First ascent. First repeat by Tyler Landman, then Daniel Woods;<ref name=PM1/> possible Template:Boulder grade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Witness the Fitness – Ozarks (USA) – March, 2005. First ascent of Template:Convert roof and filmed in Dosage 3. Repeated by Fred Nicole and Daniel Woods, but unclimbable after hold broke.<ref name=PM1/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> possible Template:Boulder grade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- The Mandala – The Buttermilks (Bishop, USA) – February, 2000. First Ascent of an iconic boulder problem. Several holds have since broken, and it is speculated the original grade was Template:Boulder grade.<ref name=CH/>
BibliographyEdit
- Why We Climb: The World's Most Inspiring Climbers (Chris Noble), 2017, Falcon Guides. pages 239–261 Template:ISBN.
FilmographyEdit
- Sharma's 1999 bouldering tour of California: Template:Cite AV media<ref name=OUT5/>
- Sharma's 2001 ascent of Realization: Template:Cite AV media
- Sharma's 2005 ascent of the roof of Witness the Fitness: Template:Cite AV media
- Sharma's 2005 ascent of Dreamcatcher: Template:Cite AV media
- Sharma's 2007 ascent of Es Pontas, and Three Degrees: Template:Cite AV media<ref name=OUT1/>
- Ondra and Sharma's 2012 attempts on La Dura Dura: Template:Cite AV media<ref name=OUT8/>
- Ondra and Sharma's 2013 ascents on La Dura Dura: Template:Cite AV media
- The Climb. Reality TV series with Meagan Martin and Jason Mamoa, 2023.
CompetitionsEdit
- 1995 Annual IFSC Climbing World Youth Championships (Lead, Youth B for age 14-15), Laval event. Gold Medal.
- 1996 Annual U.S. Open Bouldering Nationals. Gold Medal. Sharma was aged 14 when he won the adult open competition.<ref name=CL10/><ref name="metroactive" />
- 1997 Biennial UIAA Climbing World Championships (Lead), Paris event. Silver Medal. Sharma was aged 16.<ref name=PM7>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 1997 UIAA World Cup (Lead), Kranj event. Gold Medal. Sharma was aged 16.<ref name=KJ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 1999 Summer X Games, San Francisco (Bouldering). Gold Medal. Sharma was aged 17.<ref name=CL10/><ref name="metroactive" /><ref name=LAT/>
- 2000 Wasatch Open Bouldering Competition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2001 18th Annual Phoenix Bouldering Contest.<ref name="sacin" />
- 2001 IFSC World Cup (Bouldering), Munich event. Gold Medal,<ref name="sacin">Sacin - Competition News</ref> but subsequently disqualified when testing positive for marijuana.<ref name=LAT/><ref name=PM11/>
After 2001, Sharma largely abandoned most competition climbing but did take part in various US events:Template:Efn
- 2002 Ford Gorge Games<ref name=ESPN/>
- 2003 Earth Treks Roc Comp<ref name="dpm" />
- 2004 Earth Treks Roc Comp<ref name="dpm">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2004 American Bouldering Series, third round of the 2003–04 Series (ABS5).<ref name=CL10/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2007 Mammut Bouldering Championships<ref name="mammut" />
- 2008 Mammut Bouldering Championships<ref name="mammut">Climbing - Sharma, Puccio Win SLC Comp Template:Webarchive</ref>
- 2009 Ilerbloc Open Internacional<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2010 Earth Treks Roc Comp<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2010 Psicobloc Masters Series, Bilbao, Spain. The world's first DWS competition.<ref name=CL10/>
See alsoEdit
- List of grade milestones in rock climbing
- History of rock climbing
- Josune Bereziartu, greatest female sport climber of the 1990s and 2000s
- Wolfgang Güllich, greatest sport climber of the 1980s